


Revelations

by Bury_A_Friend



Category: Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters (2013), Hänsel und Gretel | Hansel and Gretel (Fairy Tale)
Genre: F/M, Minor Character Death, Past Attempted Rape/Non-Con
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-10
Updated: 2019-11-10
Packaged: 2021-01-26 16:00:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,340
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21376747
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Bury_A_Friend/pseuds/Bury_A_Friend
Summary: After the events of Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters, the siblings try to make sense of the events of the past few days.Hansel comes to terms with the death of a friend and Gretel tells Hansel what happened in the forest.
Relationships: Gretel & Hansel (Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters), Hansel/Mina (Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters)
Comments: 2
Kudos: 21





	Revelations

After the dust settled, the reality of the past few days kicked in for both siblings.

For Hansel, the realities included the sudden and tragic loss of Mina. Though he hadn’t known her long, she had taught him many things. The most valuable of which was that kindness can be found anywhere, even where you least expect it. She had taught him that not _all_ witches were bad. A timely realisation considering the revelation that his and Gretel’s mother had been a witch.

With the new context, he realised these memories weren’t him fantasising about their parents and their long forgotten childhood, but were instead the memories of a _loving_ mother who just happened to be a witch.

A mother who was burned alive not an hour after the siblings were abandoned in the forest.

It was a tragic realisation. One that found company in the many others he’d collected in his short life.

Tragic realisations were abundant for both siblings, it seemed; as Gretel, too, was coming to terms with the past few days.

For Gretel, though, the realities were stemming from the ache in her ribs and the throb of her cheek. The bruises from her attack in the forest that remained fresh.

Gretel had gained her fair share of scars and bruises over their many years of witch hunting, but the shame and humiliation from the attack in the forest was devastatingly new. The knowledge that, without Edward, all her brute strength and experience would have been for nought was enough to have her shivering in her cloak, wondering _what if._

The group, which consisted of Edward, Ben, Hansel and Gretel, had been riding most of the night. The celebrations for the lost childrens’ return had mostly died down and they had decided to leave behind the town of Ausberg and move on to the next town.

They had set up a campfire in a meadow, far enough from town that they could no longer see the embers of the town’s torches burning in the distance. Ben, not used to the amount of riding, had fallen asleep instantly after set up. His snores echoed through the makeshift camp, creating a background hum. Edward had gone for firewood.

Alone in the camp, the two siblings settled in and Hansel finally took the opportunity he’d been waiting for all day. He took a seat next to Gretel, wrapping his coat around her shivering form.

He had been watching her during their ride, the way she held herself. She was injured, of that he was sure, but he knew there was more to it. Her wariness and fear was like a siren for those who knew her well. The fact that he could see it so clearly had him even more worried.

Gretel fell in beside him, laying her head on his shoulder as he wrapped his arm around her. Her head lay there, not looking at him.

Hansel took a deep breath, “What happened?”

“What are you talking about?”

Gretel didn’t move her head, her gaze remained fixated on the fire. The light flickered off her face, only emphasising the bruises.

“I’m talking about your face. I’m talking about you. Something happened. Beyond the usual witch hunting. Gretel, _what happened?”_

“It’s fine, Hansel. I’m fine.”

Just like earlier, she tried to deflect. Anger rose through him at her words. He shifted and his hands moved to tilt her face up towards his. His eyes met hers, though hers shifted down quickly, breaking his gaze.

Her avoidance of the topic was increasing his anxiety, _his fear._

She never avoided talking about injuries usually; in fact, after a cut of his got infected years earlier and it’d resulted in a near fatal fever, Gretel had introduced the rule that they had to tell each other when they’d been hurt. It was rule made, to prevent any similar neglect happening again.

“Who did this to you?”

“Hansel, it doesn’t matter; they’re dead now, anyway.”

Finally, she’d given him something to work with.

“_Who_ are dead?”

Gretel finally looked up at him, tears in her eyes. She knew that Hansel was too stubborn to let something like this go. It was pure luck she had managed to the first time. He would want to know if she was injured, if she was okay. But the thought of _telling_ Hansel what happened, how she had nearly failed at protecting herself, was overwhelming.

“T-The Sheriff. And his men.” Hansel’s stomach dropped, his imagination running wild despite himself; he knew Gretel could handle herself, but that didn’t mean he didn’t worry.

He clenched his fist, trying to keep his anger at bay, and, as calmly as he could, responded.

“What did they do?”

“They found me... in the woods. After the attack in Ausberg, I went looking for you.” Gretel paused, before deciding to get it over and done with, like ripping off a bandage. “The Sheriff wanted to arrest me, arrest _us_. He accused us of bringing the Witch Plague to their town. I told him that we were trying to save the town but he didn’t listen. I tried to fight them but there were five of them.”

Hansel closed his eyes, he didn’t like where this was going. He didn’t want to think about it.

“The Sheriff said he wanted to _break_ me, like a horse. They had me on the ground an-and they started taking off my clothes.” She broke off, her breaths becoming shorter as she spoke.

“Gretel, did they-“, he faltered, unable to ask the question, ”-did they force themselves on you?”

He simultaneously needed to know the answer and desperately did not want to.

They wouldn’t have been the first men to try something with Gretel, but she would normally be able to stop them from being handsy with a swift punch. Or a firm headbutt. For any who weren’t deterred, his presence at her side would be enough to sway them from taking their chances. It had been what spurred him into sleeping on her floor, whenever they were somewhere new.

But that was just it, he wasn’t there_. He had failed her. _He could only pray they hadn’t gotten that far. He could only imagine what they would do if the men had managed to and, Gods forbid, they had put a child in her.

“No. They didn’t.”

She was quick to stop his train of thought, not wanting him to torture himself even more than she knew he already was.

His relief was palpable.

“They tried to, but Edward came out of the forest and saved me. But Hansel, they, they were going to rap-“, she broke off as she lost the fight to keep her tears at bay.

She started to cry quietly into his shoulder. Hansel held her tight, rubbing her back and chanting ‘_It’s okay, you’re okay, I’m here, no one is going to hurt you.’_

He felt sick. Someone had dared to hurt his sister. To touch his sister, like that. If they weren’t already dead, he would hunt them down one-by-one and kill them _slowly_.

But Edward had saved her, it was a debt he could never repay, but he would be damned if he didn’t try to.

Another day he might ask more, but tonight he was just grateful that Gretel had told him. Grateful that he could do what he could to help.

He held her through the night, while she cried herself to sleep. His emotions were in turmoil, full of guilt, horror, sadness and upset at the events of the last few days.

Tonight had been another night of revelations.

But hopefully, it would be the last of them.

Maybe from here they could begin to recover, move on from their hurts and help each other to heal.

And if these revelations had made Gretel more weary of those around her and Hansel to be more emotionally closed off, he knew it was only temporary.

As Mina and Edward had proven, even amongst evil, good can blossom.


End file.
